18/05/2017
SteadyEDGE™ is a unique, patented base solution which offers Food, Home and Personal Care (FHPC) producers enhanced brand differentiation options together with maximum production efficiency.
The use of PET is steadily gaining market share in FHPC markets traditionally dominated by HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) and PP (Polypropylene). In 2016, PET packages accounted for 29 billion units for Food, 7 billion units for Personal Care and 8 billion units for Home Care[1]. These figures are expected to grow by an average of 3% for all three sectors until 2020. Within these highly competitive markets, Sidel's new SteadyEDGE base offers chances to accelerate the take-up of PET containers. Along with innovative and attractive PET package design variants it ensures stable and cost-efficient production.
Creative and distinctive package
With SteadyEDGE, brands
will appear exactly as intended. The new base technology is
designed to meet the challenge of producing flat, oval and
rectangular containers in PET, which all require a specific
production process that delivers the optimum material distribution
of PET to achieve a top quality package. "It makes it possible to
achieve premium-quality containers in PET, with sharper edges which
have a radius as little as only 1mm, compared to a previous minimum
of 2.5mm," explains Pierrick Protais, Packaging Innovation Leader
at Sidel. These sharper edges actually increase design freedom and
facilitate the production of more elegant containers with bases
which are less curved. Also, they open up particular marketing
opportunities for containers with complex shapes and large
labelling surfaces. The technology also ensures maximum container
quality by way of accurate processing, optionally reinforced by a
monitoring system of visual control of base movement on individual
blowing stations.
More stable package for optimum uptime
The sharper edges possible on the package are used
to effectively flatten and increase the 'standing ring' area of the
base. "In this way the package is much more stable, preventing
unwanted rocking and reducing the possibility of containers being
knocked over," adds Protais. "The application of SteadyEDGE to any
design can enhance the package's stability by as much as 35%." This
is beneficial on the supermarket shelf and also in the home, as
well as improving reliability on the production line. As packages
are far less likely to fall while they are being conveyed between
various machines, this results in fewer costly stoppages and
greatly improved uptime.
Cost-efficient and sustainable production
This innovative packaging solution optimises
productivity and low total cost of ownership (TCO) while product
quality and reliability are maintained to a high standard. Benefits
include lightweighting possibilities of up to 10% through the
improved material stretch on the base. A reduction in blowing
pressure decreases energy consumption by up to 20% during
production when limitation is linked to base design. The solution
has been achieving higher output rates which are also up to 10%
faster - from 1,800 bottles per hour per mould for flat containers
with a standard base to 2,000 bottles per hour per mould with
SteadyEDGE. Such greatly improved line performance typically
contributes to a return on investment (ROI) in less than a single
year.
Smarter blowing and quick changeover
The specific sharp base design is achieved using the new Sidel patented base mould system: the Base OverStroke System (BOSS). BOSS is a piston activated in the blowing phase to stroke the base. This mechanical element allows for the raising and lowering of the base during the bottle-forming process independent of the opening and closing of the two half-shells of the mould.
BOSS provides flexible and versatile production with the option to implement quick mould changeovers and ensure maximum production uptime. A BOSS-to-BOSS changeover can be performed in just 3 minutes; BOSS-to-other can be performed in 11 minutes. Easy to implement and to retrofit, Sidel's new BOSS solution is fully compatible with Sidel Universal blowing machines. It is currently in use by customers in different parts of the world, with over 200 million containers already produced, and will shortly also be available for Sidel Matrix™ blowing machines.
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